This summit will cover the latest trading and technology challenges affecting the buy-side in an ever-changing financial and regulatory landscape, as well as innovative strategies for optimizing trade execution, managing risk and increasing operational efficiency, while keeping costs to a minimum.

WatersTechnology and Sell-Side Technology are pleased to present the 7th annual North American Trading Architecture Summit.
Bringing together technologists, architects, software developers and data center managers from the financial community to discuss the latest issues in trading technology.

Hosted by WatersTechnology, the Waters Rankings voting will be open to every investment firm, hedge fund, and exchange across the globe and will give recognition to technology and service providers for their offerings.

The aim of the awards is to recognize the leading technologies and vendors in their area of expertise, through an auditable and transparent methodology underpinned by the input and experience of six judges - four buy-side-focused technology consultants and Buy-Side Technology's editors.

This white paper considers grid's place in a cloud-enabled world, addresses options for optimizing onsite system performance, and discusses alternative on-premises solutions such as hardware acceleration and supercomputers.

Stress testing and scenario modeling is essential for any financial institution (FI) that wants to survive market shocks and increased regulatory scrutiny. This report tracks developments in the marketplace, suggests best practice and provides an overview of the available risk technology support systems.

Partnership follows on SEC rule change in March allowing the NSCC to undertake comprehensive processing of alternative investments.

Market data vendor Thomson Reuters has announced the debut of its Beta Systems Alternative Investment Products (AIP) solution for end-to-end brokerage processing of certain alternative investments. The platform will be implemented in partnership with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC), which in March filed a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule amendment allowing it to provide comprehensive custody and processing of alternative investments through its subsidiary clearing arm, the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC).

Making the DTCC's AIP processing available to all broker-dealers using Beta, the new connection is expected to streamline what was previously an intensive and manual process. It will provide firms quicker access to account position data, tax lot information, and integrated statements with interfaces providing usability for both brokers' back-offices and financial advisors.

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"The project was initiated two years ago [well before the rule amendment], when we were approached by a large broker seeing burgeoning client demand for alternative investments access—previously reserved only for the highest net-worth clients, and institutions,” says Eric Jones, global head of Beta product management at Thomson Reuters.

That demand, he says, stems from increasing priority among investors to diversify their portfolios away from products whose changes in value closely correlate with broader equities markets fluctuation. Two years on, that demand has grown only stronger.

The project, according to Jones, initially functioned as an integrative and collaborative effort between five different players: Thomson Reuters and DTCC, the large broker, and two different alternative investment product providers. The group, with the broker serving as a pilot, wanted to test the DTCC's new process—based on a previous mutual funds model—for anomalies using real data, well before the March SEC rule amendment.

The platform, which will presently allow broker-dealers to manage submitted orders for non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), business development companies (BDCs), dividends, commissions and settlement processes, will also provide services covering managed futures, funds of funds, and other alternative securities in the near future.

DTCC also sees tremendous potential in the move. "It represents a critical first step in helping investors achieve their alternative investments goals with greater transparency and reduced costs," says Ann Bergin, managing director and general manager of the DTCC’s wealth management services.

Thomson Reuters’ Jones adds that the trend toward collaborations achieving automation within the wealth management space is certain to continue. Managed accounts, he says, represent an additional area already being scrutinized by the vendor.